It’s not Mardi Gras or New Year’s Eve, but tonight could be the biggest party of the year for some in Hermosa Beach.

A rowdy crowd could push the venue’s capacity limits, resulting in cheers, hooting and hollering – and all this will be blocks away from hopping Pier Plaza.

The occasion is Hermosa’s annual review of the conditional use permits of the town’s bars and taverns – basically a free-for-all at City Hall for members of the city’s growing anti-bar faction looking to dry up Hermosa’s boozy night scene.

“I’m asking all the people that are tired of watching people urinate on their houses, people tired of hearing noises screaming into the night to come down,” said Sandy Saeman, a 20-year Hermosa Avenue resident. “It’s not just me.”

The Planning Commission tonight will take testimony from residents like Saeman, and also examine how well the city’s bars and restaurants that sell alcohol last year followed their conditional use permits – essentially a contract with the city spelling out terms of the establishments’ operation.

The body will also review police statistics from 2007 for each of the businesses, and check out which taverns had violations with the bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Based on that information, commissioners could opt to schedule subsequent hearings to revoke or revise conditional use permits.

According to Fire Department records, five bars and restaurants exceeded occupancy limits last year: Blue 32, which had two violations; Cruz Room; Union Cattle Co.; Patrick Malloy’s; and the Lighthouse.

Here’s a look at some of the establishments that had run-ins with the bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control:

Paisano’s and Sangria was cited for serving minors.

Cantina Real twice violated alcohol storage requirements.

The Shore violated its license by selling more alcohol than food.

The Dragon also sold more booze than eats, violating its ABC conditions at least three times last year.

Because the Shore’s and Dragon’s breaches also violate municipal code, their transgressions make them prime targets for CUP revocations or modifications, according to city staffers.

Ron Newman, co-chair of the Hermosa Beach Restaurant Association, didn’t believe police statistics could warrant CUP revocations for any of the group’s members.

He thought crime had decreased in the past year, and said downtown bars and restaurants contributed to only a fraction of the city’s total disturbance calls.

Regardless, many bar and tavern owners are expected to attend tonight just in case – including Newman, owner of Sharkeez, which has been closed since a fire damaged the property in May 2006.

“Personally, of course, I don’t have too much to worry about because we’re not open yet,” he said. “I’ve never seen another city do anything like this. It’s pretty unusual.”

Saeman planned to focus his comments tonight on the North End Bar and Grill, which sits just across the street from his Hermosa Avenue house.

City staffers didn’t believe enough evidence existed to trigger a CUP modification or revocation hearing for the establishment, but Saeman was tired of noisy patrons spilling out of the bar keeping his family awake at night.

“The North End Bar, for me, is leading the pack, but the issue is a clear mirror of all the places that are causing these problems,” said Saeman, calling Hermosa’s bars and taverns a “huge problem.”

Longtime resident Jim Lissner, a frequent critic of bars in town, also planned to attend tonight’s meeting, likely bringing with him charts and maps illustrating crime in the city.

Lissner didn’t think any specific establishment was to blame for the crowds, noise and crime downtown. Instead he thinks the problem was systemic.

He figured the commissioners tonight would chide one or two of the businesses based on frequent police calls.

“That really doesn’t do anything about the fact that we have too many people down there too late at night seven days a week,” he said.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Hermosa Beach Planning Commission’s annual review of the conditional use permits for the city’s bars and taverns.

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